On the Unity of the Catholic Church · §11 · Cyprian of Carthage

The Lord condemns false prophets and false baptism

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Cyprian is denouncing those who set themselves up as leaders outside the Church, and now he shows that the Lord himself cries out against them and calls his wandering people back.

Against people like these the Lord cries out. He restrains his wandering people and calls them back from such men, saying: "Do not listen to the words of the false prophets, because the visions of their hearts deceive them. They speak, but not from the mouth of the Lord. They say to those who cast away the word of God: 'Peace will be yours, and to all who walk according to their own desires. Everyone who walks in the error of his own heart—no evil will come upon you.' I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. If they had stood in my substance and heard my words, and if they had taught my people, I would have turned them from their evil thoughts" (Jeremiah 23:16-17, 21-22). The Lord points these same people out again and marks them, saying: "They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug for themselves worn-out cisterns that cannot hold water" (Jeremiah 2:13). Since there can be no baptism other than the one, they suppose they can baptize. With the fountain of life abandoned, they promise the grace of life-giving and saving water. People are not washed there but rather made filthy, nor are their sins cleansed but instead heaped up. That birth produces children not for God but for the devil. Born through a lie, they do not receive the promises of truth; begotten from faithlessness, they lose the grace of faith. They cannot come to the reward of peace, because they have broken the peace of the Lord by the fury of discord.

Latin

Contra eiusmodi clamat Dominus, ab his refrenat et reuocat errantem plebem suam dicens: nolite audire sermones pseudoprophetarum, quoniam uisiones cordis eorum frustrantur eos. locuntur sed non ab ore Domini. dicunt eis qui abiciunt uerbum Dei: pax erit uobis et omnibus ambulantibus in uoluntatibus suis, omnis qui ambulat errore cordis sui non uenient super te mala. non locutus sum ad eos, et ipsi prophetauerunt. si stetissent in substantia mea et andissent uerba mea et si docuissent populum meum, conuertissem eos a malis cogitationibus eorum. hos eosdem denuo Dominus designat et denotat dicens: me dereliquerunt fontem aquae uitae et effoderunt sibi lacus detritos qui non possunt aquam portare. quando aliud baptisma praeter unum esse non possit, baptizare se opinantur: uitae fonte deserto uitalis et salutaris aquae gratiam pollicentur. non abluuntur illic homines sed potius sordidantur, nec purgantur delicta sed immo cumulantur. non Deo natiuitas illa sed diabolo filios generat. per mendacium nati ueritatis promissa non capiunt: de perfidia procreati fidei gratiam perdunt. ad pacis praemium uenire non possunt qui pacem Domini discordiae furore ruperunt.

About this text

Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, writes in 251 against the Novatian schism: the Church Christ founded is one and cannot be divided.

Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200–258) wrote this treatise as bishop of Carthage, addressing the faithful brethren and especially the bishops who preside in the Church. He composed it in 251 to warn Christians against schism and heresy, which he regarded as a subtler and more dangerous attack by the devil than open persecution, and to defend the unity of the Church against those who had broken away from it.

The immediate occasion was the schism of Novatian, which had been stirred up in part by Novatus and other presbyters of Cyprian's own church. Cyprian wrote to keep the Carthaginians from following the breakaway movement. He argues that the Church is one and indivisible, founded by Christ upon Peter as the single source of its unity, and that this unity is preserved through the one episcopate. Schismatics and heretics, even if they claim the name of Christian and suffer death, are cut off from the Church and cannot be saved.

A reader will meet Peter, the apostle upon whom Christ founded the Church, and Paul and John, whose letters and Gospel are quoted on unity, love, and those who went out from the Church. Old Testament figures such as Korah, Dathan, Abiram, Uzziah, Aaron, Ahijah, Rahab, Solomon, and Judas appear as examples of rebellion, division, or prefigurations of the Church. The Lord, Paul, John, the Holy Spirit, Ahijah the prophet, and Scripture all speak in the treatise.

New English from the Latin base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from CSEL 3.1 (1868) (Latin)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.